


This Is Just The Beginning

by Kida4



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Blood, Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:55:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26414503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kida4/pseuds/Kida4
Summary: The Doctor receives a distress call from a planet and is determined to fix what happened. Even if it means breaking rules and getting hurt.***Originally called "this is gonna hurt"***
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

The Doctor had barely been out of the prison for 2 weeks when the blaring alarms inside the tardis broke through the silence and brought her out of her daze. Laying on the floor she tried to block out the noise knowing what those alarms meant, someone somewhere had released a distress beacon. Sighing as she sat up, failing to ignore the alarms that were now deafening. All she wanted was to just think, to just be left with her thoughts for a while to work out where it all went wrong. She hadn't even found out yet if her companions and friends had even made it back to Earth or if it they even made it back to their right time. Now somone needed her help and for the first time in a long time she found herself thinking that she didn't have it in her both physically and mentally to help someone. After everything that had happened these last months she was so tired, more tired than she ever remembers feeling in her life. Thinking now of her life and home planet how it was now all gone she found herself wiping away a silent tear that had rolled down her cheek.

She finally stood and walked the few steps over to the control column in the middle of room and switched some buttons to turn the alarms off and silence filled the room and she was once again left with peace and nothing but her own thoughts. Suddenly the interior lights turned even more darker than the low blue light they were already casting. She knew what this meant, her most loyal friend and companion wasn't happy with her. The time travelling machine let the alarms blare out once again and no matter how much The Doctor tried she just couldn't get them to turn off again.

"Fine. FINE!" she shouted to the ship "I'll go and have a look and see what i can do"

Satisfied with this answer the tardis changed the lights back to the birght and cheery orange colour they usually are while The Doctor fiddled with the controls to find out where the distress call was coming from. It took the screen she was focusing on a few moments to locate the exact origin but as soon as the co-ordinates were showing she was off.

The Tardis wheezed into existence on a planet called Zinion home of the Zuucals. A race of alien that just wanted to live in peace. Zinion was at the back end of some universe that people rarely knew about, thousands of light years away from any neighbouring planets. The terrain was a sandy, dry, dessert type with large pieces of land broke up by swampy marshland. The tardis had fully materialised and now there was an eerie silence left, not even the wind made a noise.

The Doctor stepped out of the doors , closing them firmly shut behind her. She noticed the ground was wet and dark which was unusual for a planet that was usually dry so she made a note on it and walked forward. The scan she did while she was inside the tardis told her there was buildings not far from where she was and she knew that where there were buildings there would most likely be people but as she looked up she noticed nothing around her for miles in all directions. 'huh, thats odd' she thought to herself but shrugged it off as the tardis can be a bit wrong about things sometimes 'maybe the scanners are off a bit'. So she set off walking in a direction that would hopefully would lead her to something.

The more she walked the more she noticed just how quiet it was and for once in her life she found herself not wanting to talk. This was a first for her. She always wanted to talk, she loved talking but something about the way the air felt and tasted and the heaviness of the silence made her want to be silent along with it. She even noticed at some point she had even started moving more strategically and almost stealthy which again she noted was very unlike her.

She had been walking for what felt like hours and she still hadn't seen any building or any signs of life. She stopped walking and tried to strain her eyes to see if she could see anything off in the distance but all she could see for miles was just wide open space. She turned and did a slow 360 looking out in all directions around her but just saw the same view anyway she looked. She noticed there was a large rock sticking out of the ground to her left so walked over and sat on it to take a short break and to work out what to do next.

She was lost in her own thoughts about what to do next and wondering whether she had read the scanners wrong. She tried to calculate how far she had walked when she was distracted by what sounded like whispering coming from somewhere behind her. After being in silence for so long even whispering sounded loud to her. Without turning and giving it away that she could hear whoever was behind her she listened carefully but she couldnt make out what they were saying, but she could definitely work out that it was two voices 'or is it 3?' she thought. She turned slightly to see if she could see anything over her shoulder and when she couldn't she got off the rock and walked around it.

"Hello! Anybody there? I'm The Doctor and i picked up your distress signal.... Hellooo" she slowly walked towrds where she thought the voices were coming from and she noticed another rock in the ground. She walked upto the rock which was slightly bigger than the rock she was sitting on and peered around it. Standing behind it was 2 Zuucals who were now just staring straight up at her.

"Hello" she said again "I'm The Doctor and i'm here to help"

Both Zuucals looked at each other communicating wordlessly with one another. The Doctor took this as her chance to see what she was working with. The Zuucals stood at about 3 ft high and were completly blue from head to toe 'do they have toes? Hooves? Claws?' she shook her head to get back on track and not to be distracted by what they walked on but she noticed that both Zuucals were now staring at her and it took her a second to realise they must have been talking to her while she was distacted and hadn't noticed. She opened her mouth to say something to them when she noticed the ground to the side of them had lifted up and as she watched, another Zuucal climbed up out of a hole in the ground and waved them all over.

"I knew there was 3" The Doctor mumbled to herself as she followed the original 2 Zuucals over to the hole in the ground. Kneeling down and squeezing herself through the small hole she found herself on a ladder inside a tight tunnel with barely enough room for her to move her arms and legs to climb down it. Suppressing down the urge to feel claustrophobic she jumped when the door of the hatch slammed shut a few centimetres above her head plunging her into total darkness. Trying not to panic she just concentrated on putting one foot and one hand down at a time making sure she doesn't miss any of the steps and go falling down no telling how far.

After a few mishaps she finally got into a rhythm to get down the ladder. She had tried to hear if she could hear anything to keep her some clue as to where she was heading but all she could hear was he own breathing and her boots clanging against the metal ladder. She couldnt even hear the 3 creatures that she had followed down here, were they still there?, had they rushed ahead faster than her?, had she gone too far, maybe there was a ledge somehwhere she had to step onto and she missed it in the dark?' all these thoughts ran thorugh her mind. She suddenly felt a breezee across the part of her legs that wasn't covered by her trousers and she felt the air pressure change slightly. Coming to the conclusion that maybe she was getting close to the bottom and it opens up into a larger area. She made it down 3 more rungs of the ladder before a bright light lit up the darkness. Blinded by this sudden light she had to squint and blink a few time before he eyes could adjust but even then it still hurt to have them open.

After he eyes had fully adjusted she could now she where she was and she was right when she thought that it opened up into a larger space "10 points to me " she said out loud to the emptiness and then as an afterthought added "AND a gold star". She looked down and noticed she was only a few feet from the ground so she slid down the remaining distance. She turned so the ladder was now behind her and ducked down to peer through the tunnel that was now in front of her. Getting down on her hands and knees she started to crawl through the tunnel that was in front of her only stopping when she came to a wide open space.

The open space was wider than it was tall, she guessed it to be about 6ft wide and 4 ft tall. Which for the creatures living here would be plenty of space but for The Doctor is still felt very enclosed, almost coffin like. She crawled forward until she was more into the centre of the round space, her head touching the roof as she went thankful that this body was smaller than all her previous ones. She had a look on all the walls around her and they were covered in markings but she couldn't work out if they were drawings or some ancient text that the tardis couldnt translate but either way she didn't know what they meant. The only other thing in this opening was a small door at the opposite end of where she came through but it was a very small door going from floor to ceiling but barely wide enough for the width of ther shoulders.

" Good thing i'm a woman now. I couldn't imagine getting my man shoulders through that gap..well but then again my tenth body was even skinnier than this so he would have been fine..." she stopped herself talking as she was just rambling through nerves. 'Why am i nervous?' she thought to herself. "I'm The Doctor, i don't get nervous or scared. Things get nervous and scared OF me. So pull yourself together and get through that door" with this she opened the door, ready to take on what ever was on the other side of it. 'What was it with this planet that made her so nervous and anxious?' Pushing those nerves and anxiety aside she crawled throught the door.

Once she was fully through the dor she could finally see and she was shocked and surprised to find a whole city in front of her. Full of buildings, noise, smells and ful of Zuucals running and rushing around getting their daily errands and jobs done. She was still on her hands and knees when she realised that there was now enough room for her to stand fully upright and as soon as she did everything went quiet and all eyes were on her.

Suddenly feeling a bit self concious she did a little wave to everyone "umm, hello. I'm The Doctor"

As soon as her name left her lips she noticed a chain of whispers work its way from the front where she stood all the way to the back. She watched it until she couldn't follow it anymore but it wasn't long until she realised that ther news of her arrival must have reached where ot needed to go as she heard 3 loud gongs sound out, echoing around the large open space. All the Zuucals that were standing in front of her starting moving to the sides so that a gap was created that was big enough for The Doctor to walk through like trail.

She followed the trail they had made for her until she reached a building that was different to all of the others. The outside was decorated in hundreds of what she guessed to be some sort of ceremonial wreaths in all different colours. Each one had a message on it but she was unable to read them from where she was standing. She walked through the door of the building and found herself in a large, round open room. On the floor a cricle was drawn and inside that circle was a chair resembling a throne sitting on top of a slightly raised platform. The Zuucal that was sitting on the chair was a lot older in appearance to all the others outside, he was also a darker shade of blue so she took that mean he must be their leader. He sat there staring at her for a while, almost like her could see right through her. When he finally spoke she realised this was the first time she had properly heard any of them speak and the voice that came from him shocked and surprised her. She wasn't expecting it to be so deep or loud.

"Please sit down Doctor. We've been expecting you, even if you are late" he pointed to a spot on the floor to the side of her where a chair made of cushions was now sitting and she was sure that wasn't there a moment ago but then she had a thought,

"Hang on... late? How late? and how? As soon as my shipped picked up your distress call we came straight here"

"Well to us you are over 7 months late. The immediate threat and invaders are gone. All our homes destroyed and our loved ones dead. We have had to adapt and live out undergorund in hiding through fear that those that attacked us will come back to finish the job"  
The Doctor didn't say anything as she sat there quietly listening. The leader took this a sign to carry on with their story, he took a deep breath and continued

" Did you see the ground above as you walked? Did you see how dark the sand was? How sticky the ground was? That's been like that since they attacked. First they made our homes collapse, making us flee into streets in the darkness of night for fear that we would be crushed and then they hunted us down. They say it as a game, playing with our lives and their leader watching and laughing and encouraging them. Not that they needed much encouragment. The blood of our people ran in rivers through the streets, pools of it gathering in holes where they shot. The blood never dried. It's a constant reminder whenever we go above ground of what happened that day. Those that survived the attacks hid underground in our mining systems. We built a new city with what we had and what we could salvage from the wreckage but there wasn't much. Their weapons blazed like the sun burning and cutting through whatever and whoever was in their path. We were no match for them"

Those last words were said with such sadness and defeat that The Doctors hearts hurt for this species that had lost so much. She looked at the Zuucal leader slumped in his thorne as if telling that story to someone new had taken everything her had. The Doctor sat there in silence letting what she had just been told sink in and she realised she could relate. Here were two different species from planets millions of lightyears away from each other but they could unite over each others loss and devastation of their homes, people and planet. It was in that moment that she decided she was going to do what ever she could too help them. She wasn't going to let another race be burdened with the same pain she felt.

"I will help you. But first i need to know who did it, who attacked you? Do you know them?"

The leader looked up and looked at her with eyes full of anger towards the people who were responsible for this.

"Of course i know who did it. Everyone knows a cybermen when we see them. What we didnt expect was the Timelord helping them"


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally called "this is gonna hurt"
> 
> Italics is The Doctors thoughts
> 
> Hope you like Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Of course i know who did it. Everyone knows a cybermen when we see them. What we didnt expect was the Timelord helping them"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor felt both her hearts race over what she had just been told.

_It can't be him can it? Surely not. Well you didnt exactly see him die but how could he have weasled himself of that mess._

The leader sat there watching her as she processed the information he had just given her, motioning for his few guards to keep watch incase she took the news badly and lashed out at them. Eventually he noticed the hurt flash across her face and he knew that she was no threat to them. He also recognised the look of someone that had also lost everything.

Confused and angry she stood from where she was sitting on the floor. The leader of the Zuucals still staring at her went to say something but she cut him off quickly "I will help you, ive got a time machine. I can go back and stop all this from happening" _and stop him from destroying another civilisation._ Before the leader could even acknowledge what she had just said she was out of building walking as fast as she could to ignore all the eyes watching her every move and to get back to the TARDIS before she talked herself out of what she was about to do. She quickly found the door that led to the tunnel and then to the ladder, ascending it as quickly as she could without slipping.

With shaking hands she reached the hatch that would take her above ground and pulled herself up from the hole in the ground and as she stood there she released a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. She bent over with her hands resting on her knees trying to get her breathing under control. She felt so much anger and grief, not just for this world that she was currently on but for her own world that had also been destroyed not so long ago in a similar way, a home she had spent so long finding. She stood like this for a few moments lost in her own thoughts of home, using that as her motivation she set off moving towards where she last left the TARDIS.

While walking she took the time to think about what she was going to do and make a solid plan, NOT turn up fueled on anger and either making things worse or getting herself killed. _This is why i need companions, no, i need friends. This is why i need friends to keep me in check, to make sure i don't do anything stupid. I always go too far on my own but maybe this time going too far is just what i need to do._

She wasn't far into her walk when she remembered what the leader had said about the blood on the ground and she looked down to see the wet clumps and how dark some patches looked compared to others. _So much pain and loss over what?_ Again anger flashed through her as she realised just how many people have lost their lives to him. She didn't even want to say his name, didn't want to give him the satisfaction of his name coming out of her mouth ever again. She let out a loud scream that echoed around the empty space and bouncing off rocks so it came back to her like a boomerang , a scream full of anger, pain and loss, her hearts ached over this devastation. She had tried so hard to put things right in the universe, tried to find peace where there was none and someone that she use to call a friend was doing everything he could to make sure there was no peace ever again. With this she set off on a run to the TARDIS determined to get there as quick as she could while that anger still burned in her veins.

Finally back in her ship she started putting her plan into action. She first found a map of what the city looked like before it was attacked, then she started mapping out where the most likely points of attack would be. She established a route they would most likely take and then she got to sorting out the gadgets she would use and what would stop then, she knew her trusty sonic would be pretty much useless against him and cybermen so she would have to create something he would not be expecting. She planned to get there before they even arrived on the planet so that she could evacuate all the Zuucals to someplace safe and to make sure none of them would be in any harm or come to any danger. The only part of her plan she wasn't enteirely sure on was how to truly stop them. _How do you stop cybermen/timelord hybrids? How can you kill something that is not only inside a metal suit but can also regenerate their body so they never stay dead? I mean cybermen are hard enough to defeat by themselves and now with the added complications... But i made a vow to them that i was going to save them and put this right so i will just have to find a way._

She walked around the flight console that took up the majority of the space in the control/ main room of her ship. She really needed to get out of this funk or she would be no good to anyone, not even herself. She knew she hadn't been right since her last trip to Gallifrey and finding out that everything she thought she knew about herself and her life had all been a lie. _And why did it have to be him that found out and tell me?_ She didn't even have chance to fully process that and that before she was being whisked off to that hellhole they called a prison. But if she was being really honest with herself then she would have found herself knowing that she hadn't been right since she found her home planet destroyed again, even worse knowing it was done by him. _Well a planet i called home anyway._

This then led her to thinking about her companions and friends, her family. She had puhed them away for their own safety, sent them off to be safe. She gave them the oppurtunity to go and live their lives and be the best people they could be when she thought it was the end for her. But she had been given a second chance and she didn't even get the chance to tell them that she was alive and that she was fine before she was gone again. _How long has it even been? Would they still remember me? Would they even still want to know me? They have probably all moved on with their lives, lived the great lives they were destined for. At least they are still alive, some haven't been that lucky and thats on me for wanting them around. Maybe me and him aren't so different after all. We both destroy lives, both have people die when we are around them but am i worse? At least with him you know what you are getting yourself into, theres no false pretence. But with me they think they are safe, that i will keep them safe, they think its all fun and seeing extraordinary and beautiful things in the universe and then they get hurt or they get killed. They die knowing that i couldn't and didn't save them. Maybe that's why me and him were such great friends when we were younger, we both knew..._

She was jolted out of her self pity when the tardis controls starting shaking so she rushed over to the controls and pulled the screen round to find out what was going on and no sooner as she pushed a button to see the scanners then the shaking stopped. Confused she looked at the screen again not seeing anything on there that could have caused the shaking. She then realised it was the ships way of getting her to stop dwelling over the past and to stick to the task at hand. She looked up at the control column, pointed at it in an as angry tone as she could take with her beloved machine "Now for that i'm going to use the gystrol oil and not huilop oil on your next service that will teach you" The Tardis replied back with what only could be described as a huff. After this she realised she had been distracted too long so she took hold of the controls and started making her way back to the same spot but 7 months earlier. _Should't be that hard._

5 attempts later she finally got what she hoped was the right time.

She stepped out of the TARDIS and had a look around at her surroundings. It was a completepy different view to what she had seen previously she was now up on a high ledge that over looked the city and all the buildings were currently standing where they should be so that was a good sign. A mixture of small cottage like buildings were situated in clusters closest to her and off in the distance were tall buildins that she concluded to apartments. Buildings that looked like warehouses were scattered around the edges of the city and she could see many Zuucals going about their daily life with no idea what was coming and how it would change them forever Not if i can help it. She took a step forward to see if she could see anything below the ledge she was standing on when she heard a loud bang come from behind her and then she heard that familiar wheezing sound " No, No, NO!" she shouted as she turned back to face the tardis "Don't GO! PLEASE DON'T GO! Don't leave me!" she pleaded with her ship not to leave but it was no use she was already shouting at an empty space where the tardis once stood a few seconds before.

She threw her hands up in the air "Great, now im stuck on a planet thats about to be attacked and destroyed and my ship decides to HAVE A TANTRUM!!" she screamed the last part into the empty space the tardis left and then she realised that the ship had gone taking all her maps and machines with it. Now she was stranded with no ship, no plan and only her sonic to take on one of the deadliest races in the universe. She turned to face the buildings that were in front of her knowing that if she doesn't think of a new plan soon then they won't be standing there for much longer and their occupants would be dead.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stood up on that ledge for a while thinking about what she was going to do next. The sun was slowly starting to set and she watched as many started making their way to their homes. She waited a while longer and then under the cover of darkness made down the ledge to enter the city.

She found a small trail that led her down from where she landed and she led her to a small patch of trees. The trees were short and stumpy and a purple flower bloomed from the leaves. She leant in to give it a sniff and scrunched up her nose not liking the smell, smells like death, fitting i suppose. She shrugged and continued walking through the trail towards the city.

When she reached the edge of the patch of trees she looked out at the city which now looked completely different from this angle and it now being completely dark. She noticed a few street lamps scattered along the paths between the houses but they looked like they didn't give off much light. She looked up at the sky and there was no moon to give any extra light. She pulled out her sonic and keeping in low she used it to light the path in front of her being careful not to trip on any of rocks that made up the new path she was following. It didn't take her long to be amongst the buildings and she put her sonic away so she didn't draw any attention to herself until she had figured out what to do. She slowly and quietly made her way through the streets, taking in any ways of escape not only for her but for the locals of the planet and any ways of entrance that could come as a surprise.

She eventually found a large circle with a wall built all around it, surrounding it all with a small gate that was locked. Pulling out her sonic from her pocket inside her coat she quickly unlocked the gate and slipped through. From inside the gate she took in her surroundings and she saw that the floor was tiled and each tile had the same style writing that she saw in the underground city but the TARDIS wasn't around to tanslate it even if the ship could. While she was looking around this area she became aware of a low humming that had gradually intensified as she looked around to see where it was coming from. She walked around the circle and then checked the gate to make sure it she hadn't tripped an alarm as she was exploring. It was only after it got louder and she could now feel it vibrating in her bones that she looked up.

At first she didn't see anything and wondered if it was something that just happens here but but out of the corner of her eye she saw something flash in the sky to the left of her. She turned to look at it but couldn't see it anymore until she turned away to look at it and then she could see it more clearly. She stood there studying this thing in the sky while it shifted in and out of focus _what is that, some type of preception filter? A Glamour?_

She kept watching as it slowly started to take shape and reveal its true form to her and when she realisd exactly what it was she was staring at her hearts raced. _NO NO NO It's too early they're not supposed to be here for another day yet!_ With every second that passed the now fully recognisable Cyberman ship was getting closer and closer through the atmosphere. The Doctor now panicking as she hadn't even thought of a new plan let alone start evacuating people so she rushed out of the gate and started banging the door of the nearest building she could find.

The building she came too was a small, bunglalow type and the when the door finally opened a very angry looking Zuucal stood there not impressed with being interupted at this hour. Quickly she explained " You need to leave, get out of your house and warn everyone else that you are under attack! You need to find a way to get down in the mining systems and wait there until it's all over". The Zuucal just stood there staring at her and its only after she pointed up at the sky and he noticed the ship that he made a run for it. The ship was now close enough that she could make out features on the hull and see some of the windows that ran down the side. The ship was huge but she wasn't sure how many were on there. She could hear doors being knocked and the cries of panic as the inhabitants of the planet were being notified of the approaching enemy. She walked away from the first house that she had gotten to and was nearly knocked over by a family carrying a few of their most important posessions "Get to the mining systems, quickly" she told them as they ran past but got silence from them in reply. _This was not how it was supposed to go._

The ship was now so close it was seconds away from landing and she watched as it turned to level up to land on top on of a group of buildings that she wasn't sure had been evacuated yet. So she made a beeline for those buildings, running as fast as she could to try and get there before they were crushed and killing everyone that was inside. She was a few feet away from the buildings when the ship was directly above her and it let out a huge gust of hot steam that knocked her too the floor and she rolled out of the way just in time to miss being hit with the fire coming from the engine vents. All she could do was watch as the ship came down on top of the buildings and she could hear how they struggled to stay up under this new pressure, eventually collapsing and the huge ship coming to rest upon the rubble.

She quickly got to her feet and hid behind a small wall and watched as the large doors opened up and 10 of the Cybermen/ Timelord Hybrids marched out down the ramp with The Master closesly behind them. They got into the streets and from 2 lines of 5 waiting for their orders. Crouching behind the wall she knew she had to come up with a plan and quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Chapter 2 took so long. I'm not the greatest of writers (I'm terrible) and even though I have a base all thought out for this story I still hated everything I wrote and I couldn't quite get out what was inside my head into writing.

**Author's Note:**

> hi all thanks for taking the time to read this. This will be a multi chapter but im not sure how many yet just going to see where it takes me. I hope you liked it and this is my first fic in years so I'm a bit rusty so any tips or pointers are appreciated. Please let me know what you think.


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